The New "Regime Change" Plan - Attack Damascus From The South

There are serious active preparations for a new attack on Damascus. Anti-government forces, including the Al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, have been trained and equipped in Jordan and are now moving into their starting position in Quneitra governate in south-west Syria. (A similar plan in spring 2013 was only partially executed and later aborted,)

Quneitra governate is a strip next to the Israel occupied Golan heights with a southern border to Jordan and a north western border with Lebanon.

The anti-government forces cooperating for this operation are the Syrian Revolutionaries Front (SRF), which is backed by the United States, assisted by the Islamic Front, backed by Saudi Arabia, and al-Qaeda's Jabhat al-Nusrah which just received some $20 million from Qatar. These forces infiltrated from Jordan through Daara and then up north-westward along the border with Israel. This movement, during which some UN observers were kidnapped by these forces, was supported by Israeli artillery strikes against Syrian units that tried to prevent it. The sole border station between Israel and Syria is now in the hands of the anti-government forces. The Israeli military is also providing medical support to these anti-government forces. The UN has pulled out all peacekeepers from the Syrian side of the Golan height demarcation line.

The anti-government forces now control a 40 miles (70km) long, three miles (5km) wide strip from Jordan along the Golan frontier up to Lebanon. This strip can be used to infiltrate into Hizbullah territory in south Lebanon but its main purpose is likely an attack on Damascus from the south. The Syrian military would have great difficulties to dislodge the anti-government forces from this strip as it is covered by Israeli anti-air and artillery fire.

There are rumors that Jabhat al-Nusra is leaving positions it has been holding in Hama governate in north Syria. It's groups are pulling back into Turkey to be transferred to Jordan and then as reinforcements into Quneitra.

The rather empty Quneitra area makes little sense to conquer except to be used as a launching pad for an attack from the south towards Damascus. The distance to the capital is only some 40 miles (60km). While two Syrian army divisions are stationed between Quneitra governate and Damascus coordinated air attacks against them could open and secure a route from Quneitra governate into the capital. Recent truceagreements between the U.S. supported Syrian Revolutionary Front and ISIS in the area south of Damascus may have been concluded with these attack plans in mind.

The U.S. military in the joint Arab-American operations room for the Syrian insurgency in Amman Jordan may well plan to use the murky new "war on ISIS" as pretext for attacks on the Syrian army divisions protecting Damascus from the south. Coordinated with a ground attack by Jabhat al-Nusra and others from Quneitra such air attacks would seriously degrade the Syrian forces and enable a destructive push into Damascus.

(update) Obama already announced the escalation path for such air attacks:

He made clear the intricacy of the situation, though, as he contemplated the possibility that Mr. Assad might order his forces to fire at American planes entering Syrian airspace. If he dared to do that, Mr. Obama said he would order American forces to wipe out Syria’s air defense system, which he noted would be easier than striking ISIS because its locations are better known. He went on to say that such an action by Mr. Assad would lead to his overthrow, according to one account.

The stampede to attack ISIS may have been pure maskirovka to hide this violent regime change attack plan against Syria under some "anti-terrorism" label. This at the same time as the plan is coordinated with and actively supported by Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, and made possible through truce agreements with ISIS.

I've been recovering from major surgery for about a week - did Obama really pledge to start bombing('hitting targets' or something) in Syria? Or did I hallucinate that? Isn't this like a 'HItler invades Poland' type moment? Where the fuck is the rest of the World? Gonna dick around until Uncle Sam takes Moscow, Helsinki, Beijing?

So no resistance, they've already won.... and yet still haven't even began to rampage? Dios mio.

I agree with b's analysis, and it will probably be joint US-Israel's air-cover campaign for terrorists.

However, it wont be as bad as it sounds and wont really threaten Assad, just put SAA on defensive. Lets examine two ways it would go:

1) Entire NATO did ~20.000 bombing campaigns against much weaker Libya, and Ghaddafi was outlasting it and would had won the war (UN's 6 months resolution was coming to the end) if multiple NATO and Arab countries wouldnt had send their soldiers to achieve break-through.

Now how much bombing can US and Israel do under pretext of "fighting ISIS"? 10, 20 sorties? Sure, they would do some damage, but its nothing compared to Libya, and wont change anything on the ground, terrorists wont be able to take Damascus. I doubt SAA will even respond to such bombing, not to give a pretext for US to openly join the war.

2) Lets say Usrael goes all nine yards and bombs SAA to the hilt. This still wont win the war for terrorists, but opens a whole new front - SAA would definitely retaliate (and they have enough resources to hurt US interests) and Russia with Iran will join too. Russia absolutely hates US at this point (they wouldnt hit US directly, but could supply Syria with lets say S-400), and Iran has defense pact with Syria. This would get really ugly for US, real quick.

Example, US in Lebanon did some bombing, and got retaliated with Beirut Barracks Bombings. US packed their things and left. Now resistance axis is by far and away more powerful than it was in 1983 and has loads of new toys to really hurt US if they choose to. So far they avoided it not to drag US and NATO into overt war, but if US goes first anyway, they will be "shocked and awed" themselves.

Therefore at most it will be 1) option IMO, not a life-threatening situation.

He made clear the intricacy of the situation, though, as he contemplated the possibility that Mr. Assad might order his forces to fire at American planes entering Syrian airspace. If he dared to do that, Mr. Obama said he would order American forces to wipe out Syria’s air defense system, which he noted would be easier than striking ISIS because its locations are better known. He went on to say that such an action by Mr. Assad would lead to his overthrow, according to one account.

- I thought the US was capable of learning something. But it seems they're not capable or willing to learn something.
- I fear president Obama wants to look "tough" and not "weak" in the run up to the mid term US elections.
- And the "succes" of the neocons in the Ukraine have soured the relationship between Russia & the US. (BTW, there's still fighting in eastern Ukraine).
- And all this is supposed to improve the image of the US ?
- Which folks are going to be installed in Damascus ? Lebanon & Nasrallah will be next "on the menu".

@somebody
When and if we find out what Iran is doing, it will already be way passed the success line for them. Not only Russia, but also Iran, won't get involved too openly when the much hyped change of tactic effectively occurs on the American [and their surrogate's] side. But, both will continue to undermine the plans that are targeting their vital interests by being proactive. Russia is more involved in her Western flank while Iran is sticking to the words she has given to her allies. And they are both showing resolve and principle. These are necessary attributes for a long-term wining strategy.

It is impossible to tell from the news media what is really happening. These few blogs are all the truth we have in the West. The news last night had vague reports from Damascus that implied that the Syrian Army was still fighting in the rubble of its suburbs. It is clear that the surge that entry of Hezbollah into the civil war provided to the Syrian government has stalled and has being reversed with the seizure of Tabqa Airbase.

If Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf States are doubling down and are going to try to eliminate Hezbollah and the Alawites this is a major escalation, especially if the USA provides air support. The hell that is Syria will spread. If the attacks on the Syrian government succeed, ISIS will be even more powerful. War is engulfing the world. This is not happenstance.

“We have witnessed the severity of the ISIL organization in demolishing all the shrines, temples and tombs, even those that are attributed to the prophets and the companions, as being a manifestation of shirk (polytheism), as said by them. However, when it comes to the shrine of the grandfather of the Turkish Ottomans “Suleiman Pasha” inside Syria and in the areas under the ISIL control, not only did ISIL refrain from destroying it, but facilitated the entry of Turkish troops to such shrines and protected them. The ISIL forces are to date protecting it and did not destroy it”.

As with "Saudi" support for Al-Qa’ida and/or ISIS, it's hard to know just which Saudis are being referred to. No sane Monarch loving Saudi would support either, but religious fanatics might support either or both -- overtly (though less publicly now), covertly, and or inadvertently (all those fat-wallet charities).

Turkey is terribly divided at this point and it's hard to know -- when it refuses Obama's request to use airport facilities -- if it is refusing the mission because it disapproves or because it fears retaliation for the mission, or for helping the Americans (ditto most of the middle eastern countries) -- whether domestic retaliation or "terrorist" retaliation -- judging by appearance that they'd just rather not get involved or, for that matter, "disapprove" may well be misleading. "Iraq" did not support ISIS even as thousands of Iraqi Sunni went to Syria to fight with ISIS against Assad, even as thousands of Shiia Iraqis went to Syria to fight ISIL in support of Assad and Iran. These nationstates appear to have little control over what their citizens do, or in the case of ISIL, allow (since much of Turkey's help has seemed to be that of permiting overland transport to and from ISIL territories (whether they could actually stop such traffic -- see also Southern Iraq -- is questionable).

Good and interesting analysis, b, but I am afraid this whole plan is manufactured somewhere in Langley and passed around for public consumption. For over 3 years now, we have been hearing about a "plan" to finally crush the Assad regime and enter the capital Damascus.

Ain't happening. Why? The regime is blessed with super stupid enemies who, while they succeed in the media war, their execution of any strategy in Syria has been nothing but a stellar failure. There is no indication that this time is any different.

If I was Assad, I'd worry about Ebola a lot more than Al Nusra and other parasites.

b. thanks for the post.. is this a switch for you whereby you now see the pretext for assad regime change in the convenient excuse of going after ISIS? sounds like it.

@22 mikea.. i disagree with your viewpoint.. this is propaganda backed up with actions. the israel/syria border reality and israels involvement in this is confirmation of what many of us continue to believe - sa/usa/israel - are in cahoots to get rid of assad using ISIS as the excuse to do it.. they might not succeed, but if i was assad i would take the literal threat from obama seriously. meanwhile the usa highlights how it's sees itself as beyond international law.. isn't it wonderful all the yes political leaders in the west who will rubber stamp it with support from NATO and etc?

There seems so be some degree of acknowledgement in the MSM of the absurdity of Obama's proposal to create a "moderate" Syrian Sunni army, and this was before the announcement of the ceasefire in the Damascus suburbs between ISIS and the Free Syrian Army.

I saw a reference on "The New Great Game" blog to a story that says the Saudi embassy in Tajikistan is used as a recruiting center for ISIS. Recruits are then transported to Istanbul on Turkish Air flights.

Holy smokes, the Israelis must realize that if they try to screw aournd now...The rockets will be raining down upon them. From the North, South and gosh darn it anywhere it can. If I was a jihadist and I had an israeli jew next to me. I would not lose this golden chance to kill me a jew.
Why does Israel endanger itself this way?
They lost against Hizbollah, they've lost against Hamas, they are pushing to far in the West Bank. Now this?
Why?
It it unecessesary, because Assad would let loose all his forces to launch an attack on Israel. I wouldn't want to take the Golan, I would just want them to bleed and feel pain.
Israel is going to be the biggest loser in all of this. Fire spreads and when it burns it doesn't stop until it has consumed it all.
Hasta luego.

I must say you may be correct. bibi is putting his citizens in major jeopardy. The israelis always are worrying about Iran but the greatest danger could be in their backyard. Attempting to covertly overthrow assad with the other arabs in the region will not be so covert. And if assad and hezbollah are cornered and defeat is near all hell is gonna shower on israeli citizens. The iron dome will not be able to intercept all the incoming ordinance.

I think Bibi better think long and hard before covertly spying or bombing in syria or lebanon. Assad knows what's going down and who the players are. Imo, any attempt by bibi to secretly help the overthrow of assad is gonna come with a bloody price tag.

RussianMissionGeneva ‏@mission_russian ·9 hrs
#Russia #HRC27: #humanrights becoming more politicized as some states use them to their advantage

Retweeted by MFA Russia
RussianMissionGeneva ‏@mission_russian ·9 hrs
Specific visions of #humanrights standards used as pressing tool on states
Cooperation as the only mean to avoid #politicization #HRC27

RussianMissionGeneva ‏@mission_russian ·9 hrs
No one can enjoy #humanrights in the situation of war #Ukraine #HRC27

Haven't these miserable bastards hurt the Syrian people enough?? I guess millions have to die to make the Israeli whore happy. After all she can't keep spreading her legs for friend and foe alike without catching some disease, now can she?

The SAA gets nothing but my boundless respect for the way they have fought the terrorist-skum overrunning their country - the behind-the-scenes pricks and cowards working for destabilization - HAVE THE BALLS TO COME OUT AND ANNOUNCE YOUR INTENTIONS - this is war by chickenshit.

He made clear the intricacy of the situation, though, as he contemplated the possibility that Mr. Assad might order his forces to fire at American planes entering Syrian airspace.

That's Doctor Assad to you, New York Times. He didn't go to med school for 8 years so you could call him 'mister'!

The stampede to attack ISIS may have been pure maskirovka to hide this violent regime change attack plan against Syria under some "anti-terrorism" label.

I never suspected otherwise, personally. It seemed clear to me from the start that ISIS was just another Saudi-financed dupe-group.

@Crest (Sep 15, 2014 2:03:14 PM | 9):

What would Russia do if Syria was attacked?

That's probably the most important question here: what's Russia going to do? I can't imagine that they would have arm-twisted Syria into giving up its chemical weapons without at least offering them some kind of security guarantee. What about next-generation, high-grade SAMs? Somebody above mentioned the S-400. That was apparently designed with NATO aircraft in mind. That could be a real disaster for Washington!

There was a chance to change the game fundamentally and for the better. Discreet cooperation with Iran and Assad would have gone a long way toward solving the IS problem... Cooperation also could have leveraged a peaceful settlement in Syria... But Huckleberry Gramm and Field Marshall Clinton II would never go for that.

Instead, we look to the "allies" who brought us 9/11 and without which the Taliban and IS could not exist... not to mention Turkey, our great ally, that flies foreign fighters in on Turkish Air.

You'd have to harken back to Louis XVI to find leaders as dunderheaded as the ones we have today. A lot of people are going to die. Maybe even in NYC, London, Paris, and Berlin...

More or less my point. I haven't said "shucks" about anything in about 50 years. They are dunderheaded because they think what they are doing will achieve their desired ends. It won't. It will blow up in their - I mean our - faces. I don't see what being a progressive has to do with anything in my comment.

You cannot very well expect an uninformed public to stop anything, can you? It is absolutely illogical! The HYDRA has its 'tentacled arms' in all sections of society: the media, the armed forces, food production, the politicians, academia, non-profits, technology, NGOs, etc.

While the American People have been purposefully made to be distracted through the 'Cult of Entertainment', promulgated by Hollywood, the Elites have been consolidating their power in one 'densely tight ball' for the past decades.

And so now, it is all too late:

1) NO Demonstrations will yield anything.
2) NO Revolutions a la 19th Century are possible any longer.(The Arab Spring "Revolutions" were socially/politically/financially engineered by some Western elites, who by the way, are not "in the driver's seat" currently any longer)

And this here, can go do a little, to explain why this is so:
The more one researches mind control, the more one will come to the conclusion that there is a coordinated script that has been in place for a very long time with the goal to turn the human race into non-thinking automatons. For as long as man has pursued power over the masses, mind control has been orchestrated by those who study human behavior in order to bend large populations to the will of a small “elite” group. Today, we have entered a perilous phase where mind control has taken on a physical, scientific dimension that threatens to become a permanent state if we do not become aware of the tools at the disposal of the technocratic dictatorship unfolding on a worldwide scale.

Modern mind control is both technological and psychological. Tests show that simply by exposing the methods of mind control, the effects can be reduced or eliminated, at least for mind control advertising and propaganda. More difficult to counter are the physical intrusions, which the military-industrial complex continues to develop and improve upon.

1. Education — This is the most obvious, yet still remains the most insidious. It has always been a would-be dictator’s ultimate fantasy to “educate” naturally impressionable children, thus it has been a central component to Communist and Fascist tyrannies throughout history. No one has been more instrumental in exposing the agenda of modern education than Charlotte Iserbyt — one can begin research into this area by downloading a free PDF of her book, The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America, which lays bare the role of Globalist foundations in shaping a future intended to produce servile drones lorded over by a fully educated, aware elite class.

2. Advertising and Propaganda – Edward Bernays has been cited as the inventor of the consumerist culture that was designed primarily to target people’s self-image (or lack thereof) in order to turn a want into a need. This was initially envisioned for products such as cigarettes, for example. However, Bernays also noted in his 1928 book, Propaganda, that “propaganda is the executive arm of the invisible government.” This can be seen most clearly in the modern police state and the growing citizen snitch culture, wrapped up in the pseudo-patriotic War on Terror. The increasing consolidation of media has enabled the entire corporate structure to merge with government, which now utilizes the concept of propaganda placement. Media; print, movies, television, and cable news can now work seamlessly to integrate an overall message which seems to have the ring of truth because it comes from so many sources, simultaneously. When one becomes attuned to identifying the main “message,” one will see this imprinting everywhere. And this is not even to mention subliminal messaging.

3. Predictive Programming – Many still deny that predictive programming is real. I would invite anyone to examine the range of documentation put together by Alan Watt and come to any other conclusion. Predictive programming has its origins in predominately elitist Hollywood, where the big screen can offer a big vision of where society is headed. Just look back at the books and movies which you thought were far-fetched, or “science fiction” and take a close look around at society today. For a detailed breakdown of specific examples, Vigilant Citizen is a great resource that will probably make you look at “entertainment” in a completely different light.

4. Sports, Politics, Religion – Some might take offense at seeing religion, or even politics, put alongside sports as a method of mind control. The central theme is the same throughout: divide and conquer. The techniques are quite simple: short circuit the natural tendency of people to cooperate for their survival, and teach them to form teams bent on domination and winning. Sports has always had a role as a key distraction that corrals tribal tendencies into a non-important event, which in modern America has reached ridiculous proportions where protests will break out over a sport celebrity leaving their city, but essential human issues such as liberty are giggled away as inconsequential. Political discourse is strictly in a left-right paradigm of easily controlled opposition, while religion is the backdrop of nearly every war throughout history.

5. Food, Water, and Air – Additives, toxins, and other food poisons literally alter brain chemistry to create docility and apathy. Fluoride in drinking water has been proven to lower IQ; Aspartame and MSG are excitotoxins which excite brain cells until they die; and easy access to the fast food that contains these poisons generally has created a population that lacks focus and motivation for any type of active lifestyle. Most of the modern world is perfectly groomed for passive receptiveness — and acceptance — of the dictatorial elite. And if you choose to diligently watch your diet, they are fully prepared to spray the population from the above.

6. Drugs — This can be any addictive substance, but the mission of mind controllers is to be sure you are addicted to something. One major arm of the modern mind control agenda is psychiatry, which aims to define all people by their disorders, as opposed to their human potential. This was foreshadowed in books such as Brave New World. Today, it has been taken to even further extremes as a medical tyranny has taken hold where nearly everyone has some sort of disorder — particularly those who question authority. The use of nerve drugs in the military has led to record numbers of suicides. Worst of all, the modern drug state now has over 25% of U.S. children on mind-numbing medication.

7. Military testing — The military has a long history as the testing ground for mind control. The military mind is perhaps the most malleable, as those who pursue life in the military generally resonate to the structures of hierarchy, control, and the need for unchallenged obedience to a mission. For the increasing number of military personal questioning their indoctrination, a recent story highlighted DARPA’s plans for transcranial mind control helmets that will keep them focused.

8. Electromagnetic spectrum — An electromagnetic soup envelops us all, charged by modern devices of convenience which have been shown to have a direct impact on brain function. In a tacit admission of what is possible, one researcher has been working with a “god helmet” to induce visions by altering the electromagnetic field of the brain. Our modern soup has us passively bathed by potentially mind-altering waves, while a wide range of possibilities such as cell phone towers is now available to the would-be mind controller for more direct intervention.

9. Television, Computer, and “flicker rate”– It’s bad enough that what is “programmed” on your TV (accessed via remote “control”) is engineered; it is all made easier by literally lulling you to sleep, making it a psycho-social weapon. Flicker rate tests show that alpha brain waves are altered, producing a type of hypnosis — which doesn’t portend well for the latest revelation that lights can transmit coded Internet data by “flickering faster than the eye can see.” The computer’s flicker rate is less, but through video games, social networks, and a basic structure which overloads the brain with information, the rapid pace of modern communication induces an ADHD state. A study of video games revealed that extended play can result in lower blood flow to the brain, sapping emotional control. Furthermore, role-playing games of lifelike war and police state scenarios serve to desensitize a connection to reality. One look at the WikiLeaks video Collateral Murder should be familiar to anyone who has seen a game like Call of Duty.

10. Nanobots – From science fiction horror, directly to the modern brain; the nanobots are on the way. Direct brain modification already has been packaged as “neuroengineering.” A Wired article from early 2009 highlighted that direct brain manipulation via fiber optics is a bit messy, but once installed “it could make someone happy with the press of a button.” Nanobots take the process to an automated level, rewiring the brain molecule by molecule. Worse, these mini droids can self-replicate, forcing one to wonder how this genie would ever get back in the bottle once unleashed. Expected date of arrival? Early 2020s.

A concerted effort is underway to manage and predict human behavior so that the social scientists and the dictatorial elite can control the masses and protect themselves from the fallout of a fully awake free humanity. Only by waking up to their attempts to put us to sleep do we stand a chance of preserving our free will.

What good would it do for the US to cooperate with Assad in fighting ISIS, when Assad will never allow a pipeline for Big Oil to screw the Russians?

Especially since US built ISIS to begin with? Has Israel expressed any concerns about ISIS in its backyard?

Big Oil and the MIC needs regime change to effect the necessary changes. In the meantime, Chaos and Fear Mongering, killing and scattering of civilian Arabs is part and parcel of the desired balkanization.

Didn't the Minister of Foreign Policy, Kerry use to dine with Assad? Who knew, they were a big tomato producer, right? Most hilarious as Kerry embodies the totenkopf as our Skull & Bones designee as SOS. It's one big club, sorry you are not invited.

@45 I think Israel did back off the Friends of Syria Bangwagon at a relatively early stage if memory serves. Even Bibi is capable of recognizing the Baathist state presents a more secure border than one from a failed state. The Israelis didn't seem to be on board with Obama's red line from last year.

This so-called "new" plan to attack Syria is excellent news.
Bibi has been warned several times, by Russia, not to interfere in Syria and if he does so "Israel" will discover what it feels like to have Tel Aviv and Haifa GAZA-fied.

FWIW, the real Axis of Evil (US-NATO) need to pretend, and announce, that they've vanquished their ISIS creation before they turn their sights on bigger targets. If they don't, then big targets for regime change such as Russia, China, India, Pak etc can merely exterminate (with extreme prejudice) the unruly protesters as "ISIS spinoffs".

@ susette: Thanks for the piece. A bit depressing, but informative. The battle isn't quite over, just yet. There are glimmers of hope from the BRICS nations. We'll see, the "Global Plantation", envisioned by the new corporate world, isn't quite in place.

So it's possible that USG not working with the Syrian government is mostly P.R. intended to fend off the Republicans. (That report says that Germany is acting as an intermediary between USG and Syria.)

It is more likely also meant to save face for US allies like Saudi Arabia and Turkey. They have come out in a big way against Assad.

The issue are not US airstrikes - they are pretty useless. The issue is which groundforce to ally with.

The official US supported rebels have come out publicly - in English - that they coordinate with ISIS. To separate ISIS from the "Sunni uprising" is not the reality on the ground, of course the Syrian (and Iraqi) army fight all of them.

The forces on the ground fighting ISIS that can defeat them - all these forces are not allied with the United States. Official allies - Iraqi army, Peshmerga - seem to be pretty useless or unmotivated.

It would be easy to defeat ISIS if their supply lines were stopped at the border to Turkey, Jordan, Israel.

Israel seems to have evacuated the Golan. The Red Cross reports a stream of refugees on the other side, so fighting is serious. If Israel keeps its border closed to the Jihadis and does not retaliate mortar fire ISIS has no chance.

But ISIS is just a brand for a mind set. As long as it is considered ok to take up arms and fight Iraqi or Syrian soldiers (and as long as it is considered ok that this is supported from outside), and as long as it is considered ok to get rid of people whose religion you don't accept, as long as beheadings are considered acceptable when done by a state, ISIS can morph into anything even worse.

The equivalent for Ukraine would be Right Sektor threatening Europe and cutting the head of a US journalist, so that the US offers to help fighting them by sending weapons to Poroshenko and doing air raids in Eastern Ukraine.

Malooga #50 - you said it - "resistance is fertile" - is that an original? can I quote?

The entirety of the sad tragic human history is about forces of resistance - even against all odds. I always thought that this is what it's all about. As a result i am especially suspicious of efforts designed to weaken resolve, as in "it's all over, might as well kick back and have a glass of beer, as you say.

Not so. Amazing things can happen with just a small but focused resolve.

To remind us all, back not so long ago, did we have any hope that the bombing campaign of Syria is all but a foregone conclusion? didn't happen, did it?

Back in mid August did we have any hope that the forces of Novorossiya will be all but routed? didn't quite happen that way, though the story is surely not over yet.

Sometimes I think that it's really all about the depth of the resolve out there - locally and globally.

We have 1000 reasons the warriors of the free mind can only lose, seeing the forces arrayed against them. But the passion to resist - on its own -,voiced and felt by a mere few steadfast hundreds around the world can and did affect miracles,each with just a few reasons to counter. They are not really miracles anyways.

US policy in Syria has been incoherent for a few years. It is difficult to predict what they will do next. However, at this point it seems inconceivable the the US would support an offensive against Damascus from Jordan with forces backed by the US. I do not think this will happen. As much as b is on top of things, he is wrong on this one. Obama might be a tool for many factions there is no way he will let this happen.

fire at American planes entering Syrian airspace. If he dared to do that, Mr. Obama said he would order American forces to wipe out Syria’s air defense system

It's pretty obvious what's going to happen, isn't it? An american or israeli plane will be shot down as pretext for destryoing the syrian air defense and probably air force as well. It will be Libya all over again.

Yeah that's how the spoiled, belligerant and petulant hegemon operates when it is not getting its way. But if the bratty, geopolitically reckless, short sighted, narcissicistic hegemon does, see posts @27 and @29.

An american or israeli plane will be shot down as pretext for destryoing the syrian air defense and probably air force as well. It will be Libya all over again.

agreed. the empire's on escalatory autopilot. more organized chaos. but as Harry @ 4 points out, it's not 1983 anymore and i think the russians and the chinese might somewhat regret their abstentions on the libya vote. in fact, those s-400s are probably already in the warehouse over at tartus.

Even within Israel, there have been shows of Arab support for ISIS. On Wednesday night, Israel’s Channel 10 aired footage of an Islamic State rally on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount which occurred on a recent Friday. The Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest place, is also the site of the al-Aqsa mosque, holy to Muslims and frequently the site of fiery Islamist sermons.
The report, which will be broadcast in full next week, said the gathering underlined that the Islamic State intends to focus on Israel in the future.
The gathering, attended by thousands of Israeli and Palestinian Arabs, was organized by the Tahrir party, which the report described as the “Palestine branch” of the Islamic State.
"Speakers were filmed declaring their anticipation of the 'liberation' of Jerusalem and decrying Jewish 'pollution' of the city. Several black [ISIS] flags were seen in the footage."

2. Booz Allen Hamilton, McLean, Virginia was awarded a $43,293,745 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for services in the contract to include consulting, intensive management, logistics support, and contracting support to **the Royal Saudi Land Forces.**

Oh Achmed!! Oh Faisal!! Hiyaa binaa! دعونا نذهب

32

Do you REALLY believe Zions canceled the contract? It's just a blown-cover cover!

I think in a worse case scenario, the entire Syrian government ensconces safely to Russia, leaving the US/arab partners to fight another losing ten-year COIN war while the Empire completely collapses. (At least, if I were Putin, that's what I'd do.) Then they return and rebuild the country.

MOSCOW — Israel, increasingly confounded by Washington’s Mideast policy, is mulling ways to enhance security cooperation with Moscow without jeopardizing its pre-eminent partnership with the US.

Acknowledging a shared frustration with Saudi Arabia and other US allies in the gulf over Washington’s perceived wavering on Iran and diminishing regional influence, Israeli officials are seeking to cultivate additional sources of support for its diplomatic and security agenda.

...

“Israel’s foreign policy for decades has focused on one direction — toward Washington. But my policy is multi-directional,” the Moldovan-born, Russian-speaking minister told a gathering in Sderot near Israel’s border with Gaza.

While expressing gratitude for traditional US support, Lieberman alluded to growing anger with Washington over its willingness to ease sanctions against Iran without a clear commitment from Tehran to dismantle its nuclear program.

“Our foreign policy needs to focus on finding allies and not just complaining and saying, ‘Come support us,’ ” he said.

Since clashing publicly with Washington over what it perceives as a precipitous rush to conclude a nuclear disarmament deal that fails to satisfy Israel’s security concerns, Israel has intensified diplomacy with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany involved in ongoing so-called P5+1 talks in Geneva.

Prior to Netanyahu’s Nov. 20-21 visit to Moscow, he hosted French President François Hollande in a high-profile state visit profuse with praise for Paris’ insistence on greater concessions from Tehran in exchange for preliminary sanctions relief.

But Israeli officials say diplomatic outreach is principally focused on Moscow, which Jerusalem views as the ultimate source of leverage on Iran in the P5+1 talks.

"He made clear the intricacy of the situation, though, as he contemplated the possibility that Mr. Assad might order his forces to fire at American planes entering Syrian airspace. If he dared to do that, Mr. Obama said he would order American forces to wipe out Syria’s air defense system, which he noted would be easier than striking ISIS because its locations are better known."

Hmmm, OK, sure.

And if he gives that order and Syria's air defense system proves to be
a) more resilient than he gives it credit for, and
b) quickly and efficiently improved with all-new and even-more resilient Russian gear?

What does he do then? Invade?

After all, I'm old enough to remember the Vietnam war, where the North Vietnamese AA was just some ww2-vintage heavy machi..... crap, was that a SAM missile? Where the heck did they get SA... holy crap! Did I just see a MIG-21? Where'd they learn to fl... shit! shit! there's a radar-lock on my je... Eject! Eject! Eject!

Syria will Fight. Russia will Fight. Hezbollah will Fight. Iran will Fight.

They have clearly demonstrated this. They know have no alternative other than certain destruction. The days of appeasing or attempting to partner with the Empire and its Vassals are past.

The Empire has now gone rabidly feral with Syria and Ukraine. To paraphrase Obama "Seek to defend your Sovereign borders Syria from our unilateral use of military force and we will destroy you". So much for the UN Charter and Illegal Wars of Aggression. So much for the false lessons of Nuremberg. So much for International Law and the Sovereignity of nations.

They are steadfastly assisting each other against the 'International Community' led by the Empire. And Libya and Gadaffi's fate was only the latest example among a very long list of what would await them if they were deluded enough to accept any of the Empires entreaties.

These events involve Human beings, being killed, maimed, tortured, 'cleansed', disempowered, disenfranschized and having theirs and theirs childrens very land and futures stolen. As the Syrian and now the Ukrainian people have clearly demonstrated, they will Not Submit, and they do not stand alone. The US rules over all it can, exploits what it wishes and it does not share power.

The Empire is stirring a witches brew with extraordinary blowback potential in the ME with their monster ISIS. The strongest anti anything in the ME is Anti-Amerika and Anti-Israel ...

The worlds 'only' superpower is repeatedly demonstrating weakness, not strength by its actions and its days are surely numbered.

Loss of access to Tartus is (or should be) a red line for Russia. It is the site of its Mediterranean port.

Some of the S-400 missiles have a range of 400 km, which is sufficient, from Tartus alone, to cover most of Syria, southern Turkey including the NATO base at Incirlik, Cyprus where the UK has air bases and Israel as far south as central Gaza. A battery can handle up to 36 targets. This range also exceeds the coverage range of the NATO AWACS aircraft. This seems to be a mean and carefully thought out system.

@72 The U.S. has been spending it's cash on spreading terror, not R&D, and more or less exposed every weapons capability to fight what use to be cranks.

The MIC has made it easy to develop counter measures. The Russians don't have a built-in market from NATO or being world police, so perspective buyers expect their products to work. Buying American means you expect safe haven in a DC suburb if things go south.

Don't you think ISIS or Al-Qa’ida attacking Israel or an Israeli asset just MIGHT get in the way of their immediate ambitions to reestablish the caliphate? not to mention bringing on another catastrophic blow-back (see also 09/11). They have all eternity. They can wait until they have Israel better surrounded, Mecca and Medina under their control, the Sunni Islamic World in light ... As of yet, they do not have nuclear weapons and so aren't in the league that can play that MAD deterrence game.

The US & UK Intelligence services are past masters at facilitating, enabling, influencing, suborning, etc, movements, even those they have created out of whole cloth for decades upon decades, especially where they are able to play one group off against another to their own ends. Agents and handlers run the personalities and assets, but they can never actually have absolute control, more a case of extensive, overlapping influence and direction ... but at the end of the day you're dealing with personalities with minds, agendas and ambitions of their own.

However, a mantra of such operations is always to quickly install a 'Strongman' puppet/dictator and an authoritarian regime in support to get things 'under control' and keep him on a very short leash lest he develop a mind of his own.(See Saddam Hussein)

What IF, ISIS has slipped the leash ? And that is a big IF.

Could it actually be a serious threat to the Empire, not directly, but by the threat of its mere existence to the tenuous hold and legitamicy that the Empires vassals hold throughout the ME ... Saudia Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, etc, all petty dictators/tinpots/faux monarchies and utterly corrupted elites permitted to govern as long as they 'serve'. Saudi Arabia beheads more than a hundred of its citizens EVERY month and we don't even blink.

If ISIS is rogue, and if it is effectively devouring and assimilating other jihadi groups and was able to develop enough to overthrow just one of the vassals, the rest would likely fall too ... and there's your Caliphate. Outside the elites the ME hates the US and Israel above all else.

The US & UK would be out of the ME. Then ISIS could spend time considering what to to do about the US & Israel ...

@ susette "It has always been a would-be dictator’s ultimate fantasy to “educate” naturally impressionable children, thus it has been a central component to Communist and Fascist tyrannies throughout history."

You give lots of examples of "Free World" manipulation of impressionable minds. But nothing from the Communist side. Are we supposed to assume you're right just because Stalin is the Evilest-dictator-evah-and-everbody-knows-it? What makes you think that the official version of communism hasn't been ground into your skull by a lifetime of mental abuse? The US has connived in the murder of millions of communists(and those found in their vicinity). Do you imagine that dishonesty is beneath them?

Very informative. Parental misguidance might also be included I think. Everyone is pressured to conform, and most family's depend on that conformity for their survival and perpetuation.

I think malooga is correct in proposing that resistance will continue for as long as the human species. It was Aristotle who observed that "all.men desire knowledge," by which I am sure women are included, and this is the downfall of all behavior control.

Currently we all depend on MOA to corroborate observations on the nature of reality which conform to natural and rational explanations. Prior to the internet, it was still possible to comprehend what was going on, and although I'm sure the internet is a problem for those wishing to deceive their populations unimpeded, after the internet is dismantled, or the plug is pulled, new and better methods for disseminating or learning or having the truth confirmed will spring forth. If I were the government, I would be reluctant to unplug the internet for this reason, because all the think tanks in the world will never accurately predict what will come, just look at the progress these think tanks have made around the globe at predicting and controlling the struggle, and.the outlook looks bleak. And I'm fairly certain at some point this internet will be dismantled.

It's safe to say that even the worst miscreant given a timeline of infinity, although it would be wonderful if the pace were quickened, will come to a knowledge of the truth. For those of us seeking to do no harm, experience in our own lives which cannot be indefinitely and infinitesimally guided by any human form of control, will continue to enlighten us all. That seems to be one of the purposes of life and our experience. However, it seems it will never be easy even if paradise on earth descended tomorrow. That may also be a purpose, so inure one's self to that.

80;The Liberian govt?
Susette;Who is the motivator or impetus for all those claims;I wish people would spell it out.I-S-R-A-E-L.Z-I-O-N.
The Zionist counterattack continues;We get Jewish month on TCM,and the Germans just announced some 93 year old former guard responsible for the holocaust(stinkin Guardian).I hope in 2060 or so some Israeli is tried for Cast Lead,Protective Edge or some other bloodletting they regularly engage in.
Quoting Israeli leaders on their motives or intentions,especially in corrupt venues,is an exercise in idiocy.They are serial liars of the highest mendacity.All I know is they are afraid of Russia,but not US.We are their boy toys.

Of all the religious sites, monuments, mosques, churches etc that ISIS has destroyed, the one glaring exception is the Turkish Suleyman Shah Tomb in Syria, which Turkey handed over to ISIS, to guard ?! Turkey claims it can do nothing overt against ISIS because of 49 Turkish diplomatic hostages ... yet still provides bases, refuge, logistics, weapons, materiel, R&R and medical services to ISIS, whilst covertly buying ISIS smuggled Oil and Gas from Syria and Iraq ...

Turkey is an outsider nation in many respects for almost a century now. Turkey has learnt it will never be accepted into the EU, and so it must turn from its West to its East for its future as long as it stays in NATO ... what if Turkey has progressively suborned the ISIS to its own aims, not those of the Empire, re the Middle East. Turks are Not Arabs and the rule of the Ottoman Empire is not forgotten.

What if Turkey is using ISIS with the aim of extending its influence throughout the ME ? Is ISIS in turn deceiving Turkey in order to attempt to establish its Caliphate ? Wheels within wheels ...

Russia only did extermination when it was communist (and to a lesser extent under Yeltsin, when he attacked the Duma).
Posted by: Demian | Sep 16, 2014 1:25:19 AM | 54

I was alluding to Tianenman Square (China) and the inelegant way the FSB (Russia) dealt with Chechens who took the children at a school, and the audience at a theatre, hostage.
What have communist leanings got to do with nipping foreign-sponsored uprisings in the bud?

@ 71:"The worlds 'only' superpower is repeatedly demonstrating weakness, not strength by its actions and its days are surely numbered."

Come what may, that day cannot come too soon.

Posted by: ben | Sep 16, 2014 9:30:44 AM | 74

Absolutely, and hopefully when that day comes, IS can establish a caliphate in North America in its place. Wouldn't that be awesome? Then you don't have to travel too far (to the Levant) to blow some people up and you don't have to worry about being on any alphabet agency lists. And as far as girls go, well, take your pick, just make sure to marry them first — because, you know, you want to be moral about it.

One of two young Austrian women who travelled to Syria to fight with Islamic extremists has reportedly been killed just months after arriving in the country.

Sabina Selimovic, 15, and Samra Kesinovic, 16, both the daughters of immigrant families from Bosnia, left their homes in Vienna in April with the apparent intention of fighting for Syrian rebels.

They are thought to have travelled to Turkey and then to have crossed the border into Syria, having become radicalised after attending a local mosque in Vienna and reading about jihad on the internet.

They posted on social media photographs of themselves handling assault weapons and wearing black, full length burkas.

But Austrian authorities now think one of them – they have so far refused to divulge which one – may have been killed during fighting.

More at link

Click the link and scratch your head. Such a waste. These two girls were beautiful and had everything to live for, but hey, I can understand the allure IS must have had for them. Look how infatuated ben is with its anti-imperialist messaging. The latest from IS is it plans on assassinating the Pope. I didn't think the Russians were involved previously, but considering the Communists tried to assassinate Pope John Paul II, this threat has Communist sentiments written all over it. I guess they've been playing possum in the Long Game.

My reading of the situation is that Turkey was part of the Obama administration/Qatar Muslim Brotherhood/Sunni strategy that stretched from Egypt to Libya to Syria with a potential to reach from Turkey to the Caucasus.

When Israel and Saudi Arabia freaked out, that strategy was dead, and the Egypt military retook full control. That did not mean the US would force Turkey (or Qatar) to get rid of their assets but made life difficult for Hamas and the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood. Iran is capable of working with the Muslim Brotherhood and I think that is happening now.
ISIS is a tool designed for ethnic cleansing, for blackmail and extortion. If Turkey was interested in the ethnic cleansing part it is also a victim of the blackmail and extortion part - same goes for Saudi Arabia.

Do not panic and do not forget this: Iran and Russia have not invested so much money and material in Syrias fight against the "contras" to watch and see how the US with a very silly and transparent plan reverses the events.
There are surely back channels through which the Putins of this world clearly let the US know that they will not stand idle and see Syrias demise under the pretense by the Americans that the downfall of Assad was merely a "byproduct" of fighting ISIS.
It is too obvious and it would be a repetition of the R2P lie in Libya which turned the originally "acceptable" Nato mission into an active war for regime change.

For the poor Syrian civilians sake, I hope what you said is the case. I got suckered by the R2P libya lie back in the spring of 2011 and I still regret believing and supporting the R2P Libya lie to this day. Like RT news says "question more".

But as the US ponders its military steps in Iraq and neighboring Syria, Kerry said on Sunday, during an interview with CBS, that the US would “de-conflict” with the Assad regime in Damascus if necessary.

“Well, we’re not going to coordinate with the Syrians. We’ve made that very, very clear. But there are all kinds of ways of communicating to avoid mistakes or disasters and not – strike the word ‘disasters’ –there are all kinds of ways of avoiding bad things. And I’m not going to go into them, but we’re not going to coordinate.”

When asked what Kerry could have meant by “de-conflicting,” Harf grew visibly frustrated.

“As [Kerry] said several times in that interview, we will not -- it's like I'm a broken record today -- we will not be coordinating in any way with the Syrian government.”

- Although I dislike the US "Regime Change" plan utterly, I also think the (extremely) harsh police state as run by one Bashir Assad should go as well. In that regard violence has bred more violence.
- I see another dimension to the US strategy. It looks like the US wants to favour Jabhat-al-Nusrah over ISIS. The US supporting Assad to get rid of ISIS but support Jabhat-Al-Nusrah to get rid of Assad. Syrian attacks on ISIS would keep ISIS busy/pinned down in Raqqa, Syria.
- So, the kidnapping of the UN peacekeepers was meant to warn/scare the UN. Yes, things start to make sense.
- Another benefit of defeating Assad: Chase the russians out of their "warm water" seaport of Tarsus.
- And the US and Israel still are wondering why they're so unpopular.....